Shawn White, general counsel for The Broad Foundations. (Courtesy photo)

Shawn White, a former lawyer and executive for Prudential Financial Inc. who has held in-house leadership and advisory roles with public service organizations on both coasts, is the new general counsel of The Broad Foundations.

The Los Angeles-based foundations have more than $3 billion in assets and include The Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation and The Broad Art Foundation, which were established to foster entrepreneurship in education, science and the arts. 

White, a Los Angeles native, began her new role in September, and her appointment was announced Thursday. She said in an interview Friday that she was drawn to the position based on her passion for public service. 

She shares that passion with her aunts, who have been advocates for housing protection and civil rights in South Los Angeles, where her grandfather and uncles built affordable housing. 

"This has been something that's been in my life since I was a small girl," White said. 

She noted that "you can't see what's happening in the downtown arts and entertainment scene and some of the real beauty of what's made that a part of Los Angeles without seeing the imprint that Eli and Edythe Broad have had on that." 

White said her decision to join the foundations "just seemed like a no-brainer. I felt like there was a potential for a good cultural fit and the values and priorities of the foundations were something that aligned deeply with my personal values and priorities."

White succeeds Deborah Kanter, who now serves as project manager for the transformation of the Challenger Youth Center, a juvenile detention center in Los Angeles County, according to her LinkedIn profile. 

White began her legal career as a corporate associate with Simpson Thacher & Bartlett in New York before joining Prudential, where she was vice president and chief counsel of the firm's philanthropic Prudential Foundation.

During the financial crisis, White moved from Prudential's office in New York to its headquarters in Newark, New Jersey, where she helped the firm with "real-life stress testing," which included reviewing credit facilities and liquidity and helping with strategic transactions, she said. 

White later served as the first general counsel of the minority-owned City National Bank of New Jersey. She's also held in-house leadership roles at a talent agency in Los Angeles and at The Bella Network, a for-profit that offers coaching and consulting for women-owned businesses and is partnered with the Los Angeles mayor's office. She is a graduate of Stanford Law School. 

Gerun Riley, president of The Broad Foundation, said in a written statement that White has a "keen legal mind" and a "deep personal commitment to public service."

She added, "Shawn has a legal background that has both breadth and depth, and a passion for social justice that will help inform our work across all areas of the foundations."